Abstract #3911

Portosystemic shunts in C57BL/6J mice are associated with high levels of hepatic lipids and glucose intolerance

Ana Francisca Soares¹, Hongxia Lei^2,3, and Rolf Gruetter^1,2,3,4

¹Laboratory of Functional and Metabolic Imaging (LIFMET), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, ²Center for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM), Lausanne, Switzerland, ³Department of Radiology, University of Geneva (UNIGE), Geneva, Switzerland, ⁴Department of Radiology, University of Lausanne (Unil), Lausanne, Switzerland

C57BL/6J mice widely used in preclinical research exhibit sporadic congenital portosystemic shunts that prevent normal delivery of nutrients and hormones to the liver. We used MRI to diagnose portosystemic shunts in mice, and furthermore showed that their hepatic lipid content, as determined by ¹H-MRS in vivo is abnormally high. Also, compared with healthy cage mates, mice with portosystemic shunts displayed lower fasting glucose and insulin levels, with a less efficient glucose clearance after a glucose gavage. Hence, hepatic metabolism is significantly altered in mice with portosystemic shunts with consequences to whole-body glucose homeostasis.

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